EastEnders: Lucy Beale, Joey Branning to start romance

EastEnders Lucy Beale and Joey Branning will embark on a new romance, to the annoyance of his father Derek.

The latest addition to the Branning family - played by David Witts - will come to the rescue of Lucy (Hetti Bywater) when gangster Derek tries to terrorise her after her father Ian Beale goes missing but Joey is set to become her knight in shining armour.

Witts told The Sun: "Joey knows that if he's going to be around Lucy then it's going to annoy Derek.

"He will absolutely relish that, because anything which riles up Derek will show his true colours.

"There will be a slight attraction between Joey and Lucy as he can see that she's a pretty girl.

"But certainly at the start it seems as though she's being used by Joey to annoy Derek."

However, a soap insider revealed BBC bosses have big plans for the pair and hope they will rival the show's legendary couples such as Grant Mitchell and his former wife Sharon.

The source said: "Hetti is a really good actress and they have brought in David as the perfect foil."